What is this thing? An aardvark?

El Paso's Triple A baseball team released images of eyes belonging to its future mascot. (Courtesy El Paso Triple A Baseball )

They are just a pair of red piercing eyes, one with a scar, glowing with an angry glare.

They could be the eyes of the El Paso Desert Gators minor league baseball team. Or they could be the eyes of the El Paso Sun Dogs, maybe even a Chihuahua — if it is rabid. Perhaps too primal to be a Buckaroo and if the eyes belong to an Aardvark, then it's the toughest one to ever escape from Africa.

But then again, who knows?

Only a select few within the walls of El Paso's new Triple-A baseball team know. And they are not letting out any more hints. At least not today.

One thing is for sure, the striking eyes do belong to one of those five mascot options for the minor league team. The options: Sun Dogs, Desert Gators, Chihuahuas, Aardvarks and Buckaroos.

“Eyes have life, eyes are expressive and we are trying to express excitement to the fans,” said Brad Taylor, MountainStar Sports General Manager. “We want people's imaginations to be running wild.”

There is no set announcement date, but team officials said the name will be “coming soon,” and El Pasoans will be excited by the team name.

The buzz around the eyes got started on Sunday when the eyes popped up on the website ElPasoTripleA.com, and two billboards sprung up off Interstate-10, at Executive Center and Lomaland, on Monday morning.

Alan Ledford, president of El Paso's MountainStar Sports, said the eyes were a “fun” way to start the revealing process.

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“The objective with all the process around the team name and logo is to continue to create a sense of fun,” Ledford said. “This is a natural extension of that process.”

Team officials said they want fans to use their imaginations and some residents are already taking their guesses.

“My guess is it is going to be the Desert Gators and the reason why is because the eyes are really spread out and it has space for a long nose,” said Carlos Chavez, 20.

“I also think it's a gator because he has a scar here on the left eye.”

Kipp Grey, owner of Kipp's Cheesesteaks agrees with Chavez and thinks Desert Gators is the name. Grey talked about the eyes to every customer who walked in the door.

“If I had to take an educated guess at it I would say, and maybe it is just wishful thinking, I'm thinking it is the Desert Gators,” Grey said. “That would put some homage to the gators we used to have a San Jacinto Park, plus just the width of the nose leads me to guess that.”

Joe Romero's first thought was that the eyes look like what he imagines a Sun Dog's eyes would be like.

“It's some sort of animal judging by the eyes,” he said. “And it has to be something that is in the desert.”

Kristina Perez, 20, likes the idea of a dog as the mascot, but just not a Chihuahua so other teams can't say “their bark is worse than their bite.”

“Hopefully it's a Sun Dog, because it has room for a snout. I hope it's not Chihuahua, so that leaves Sun Dog as my guess.”

Sundogs.com does have a message that reads “Welcome to the future home of sundogs.com.”

Maria Chavez, 34, does not care what the name is, as long as the mascot is “strong,” and “manly.”

“So far it has that tough factor in the eyes,” Maria Chavez said. “It looks scary and intimidating.”

But can it be too fierce?

At first Lucile Arronte, 31, thought the eyes had something to do with Halloween because they are not human.

“But I don't like it that much,” Arronte said. “I think I like the name the Sun Dogs, but I don't like the eyes. I think they look too mad.”

Ledford hopes El Pasoans continue to talk about the eyes.

“We love to hear that people are having a good time trying to guess the name,” Ledford said. “The eyes tend to put a smiles on faces. Whether they like the names or not, people find themselves enjoying the conversation and speculation.”

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